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Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?


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A_Aronn17
Novice

May 31, 2018, 5:18 AM

Post #1 of 13 (2161 views)
  post locked   Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS 2.4L
At cruising speed after about 20 minutes of driving it at about 3k RPM and 70-80 MPH, the car will suddenly but momentarily start jerking and the tachometer will start fluttering downwards (never a surge upwards to higher RPM). This goes on for about 30 seconds max and then stops and I have no issues during the rest of the commute. I drive 80 miles round trip for my work commute and it happens every morning and evening usually only once. I just recently had the water pump, timing belt, and head gasket replaced in the vehicle, and people have told me it could be a dirty EGR valve. Any help towards directing me to the correct spots to check to diagnose this issue is greatly appreciated. Thanks!


- Aaron


Edit: The fluttering is like a spasm, its not exactly like a prolonged delay in acceleration or anything.


(This post was edited by A_Aronn17 on May 31, 2018, 5:21 AM)


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
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May 31, 2018, 5:40 AM

Post #2 of 13 (2154 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

There should be a code pending for what circuit is doing this. Probably NOT the EGR being dirty or sticky just once then clear up like that but not ruled out yet,


T



Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

May 31, 2018, 6:56 AM

Post #3 of 13 (2142 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

Could be an issue with either the cam or crank sensor signals. If you do find out it is a cam or crank sensor causing that, replace with dealer parts. If you go aftermarket on those, you'll have issues.





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A_Aronn17
Novice

May 31, 2018, 8:13 AM

Post #4 of 13 (2134 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

Are these expensive parts to purchase, and are they easy to replace in the car if they do happen to be the issue?


A_Aronn17
Novice

May 31, 2018, 8:23 AM

Post #5 of 13 (2131 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

Also, should I worry about this further hurting my car in the long run (I want to be able to save money in case it is an expensive repair for any reason)?


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
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May 31, 2018, 12:15 PM

Post #6 of 13 (2116 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  


Quote
Also, should I worry about this further hurting my car in the long run (I want to be able to save money in case it is an expensive repair for any reason)?



Well that depends, can you afford a tow truck. If it quits altogether you will be sitting on the side of the road.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



A_Aronn17
Novice

Jun 1, 2018, 5:12 AM

Post #7 of 13 (2078 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

Update: The car did exactly that, but I managed to get to the shoulder of the road safely, shut off the car, and start it back up, put it in drive, and it proceeded to stumble a bit and get back on pace and accelerate regularly, what was weird is the Tachometer dropped to 0 and I could get no acceleration in the throttle when this happened, but everything was running just fine, the engine was still running, ac was working, all gauges except for the tachometer (which was at 0) was running, and it only temporarily had this issue, but granted this is the worst it's gotten so far. This morning, I drove it down to work again, not trying to push it whatsoever, always keeping it below 3k RPM but trying to keep it steady at around 2.5k. The car didn't hiccup once, and the tachometer never fluttered. It was as if the issue was never there in the first place. I could at least feel a TINY bit of delay in acceleration here and there but nothing near as major as what's been happening.


(This post was edited by A_Aronn17 on Jun 1, 2018, 5:14 AM)


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
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Jun 1, 2018, 5:19 AM

Post #8 of 13 (2074 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  


Quote
the engine was still running, ac was working, all gauges except for the tachometer (which was at 0) was running,


The engine was running? I doubt that. If the tach went to zero, the engine was not running and the AC was not working. The electrical blower may have been running but the AC compressor was not.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



A_Aronn17
Novice

Jun 1, 2018, 7:05 AM

Post #9 of 13 (2065 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

AC probably wasn't but the engine was still running when the acceleration abruptly stopped. when I got to the shoulder, I shut off the car completely, started it back up, and the tachometer worked like normal, but when I put it in drive, the Tach started fluttering briefly and then stopped fluttering and the car accelerated like normal.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jun 1, 2018, 7:25 AM

Post #10 of 13 (2059 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

It's time to have the computer scanned for codes, even if the light isn't coming on.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



A_Aronn17
Novice

Jun 1, 2018, 7:28 AM

Post #11 of 13 (2055 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

I'll get going on that right away. Thanks.


A_Aronn17
Novice

Jun 18, 2018, 11:48 AM

Post #12 of 13 (2010 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

Recently got word from the mechanic that the computer was throwing a code for a faulty crank shaft sensor. Hope all is well and fixed when I pick it up soon. Thanks for all of the advice.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Jun 18, 2018, 11:59 AM

Post #13 of 13 (2005 views)
  post locked   Re: Car and Tachometer Sputters at Cruising Speed?  

Sounds good. I'll close this now as solved.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.







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